Portal

Chapter 6

Vader looked at the four bodies uneasily. To be this close to anything
from this galaxy was uncomfortable; even the dead gave no comfort.

"The information." He said. Melkar handed him the handscreen.

"Our technicians have checked it thoroughly my Lord." He said, clearly
nervous. Vader wondered idly if there was some hidden streak of force perception
within him; anybody who was endowed with it would feel the effects of this
place, these people. "They claim it is authentic, so far as they can determine.
Certainly the records match the actions of the enemy fleet thus far."

"What killed these people?"

"Three died of burns, one of decompression my lord."

Vader stared at the corpses as if he could intimidate them into talking.
Finally he shook his head; this was pointless, he was learning nothing.

"What is their next planned move?"

"Their fleet is short of fuel and has nearly exhausted its weapons
- their ships are fast and powerful, but have little endurance compared
to ours. They are going to avoid contact and deploy their fleet to defend
the forth planet. It is their capital world, but has little in the way
of fixed defences. They will attempt to hold off any assault until their
reinforcements from nearby systems can arrive - that is scheduled to be
in another ten hours." Melkar shook his head. "We cannot possibly reach
the planet before then, my lord. By the time we arrive there will be substantial
reinforcements in place. Over a thousand enemy vessels are on their way,
enough to be a serious impediment to our fleet."

"We can use a hyperspace jump." Vader said slowly.

"Well yes my lord, a jump would cover that distance in seconds - but
it will take hours just to assemble the fleet into formation and we will
be badly disorganised when we emerge. It will put us at a severe disadvantage."

"The fleet can be ready within two hours." Vader said. Melkar paled,
but it was obvious that the subject was not open to debate. "Inform the
captains that we jump then. We have them on the point of defeat; disorganised
or not, we have the numbers to overwhelm them. Their reinforcements will
arrive to find their capital a smoking ruin and a similar fate awaiting
them."

"Yes my lord."

"There are indications that the Imperial fleet is re-deploying its formation."
Data said. "They appear to be preparing to make a new move."

"So this is it; the next couple of hours will tell us if they've swallowed
the bait." Riker added.

"What's the status on our reinforcements?" Picard asked.

Riker consulted a panel. "Circling to come in with the sun between
them and the Imperials, as you ordered." He said. "They'll be in place
in the blind spot above the pole in seventy five minutes."

"That's cutting it closer than I'd like, number one."

"I know sir, but if the Empire spots one single ship coming in it will
make them doubt the information we've planted on them. We can't afford
to let that happen."

"Agreed. What's the status of our own forces?"

"We have seventy six ships reporting full combat readiness; another
twelve are damaged but reporting that they are capable of serving on the
line. A further ten are crippled - they're offloading photon torpedoes,
spares and crew to other ships. The Theseus and the Ramilies
have both suffered propulsion failures and are heading out of the battle
zone on thrusters only. They'll all be well away from the combat area before
the firing starts."

"Good. Now we wait."

Dax watched helplessly as the Death Star cruised away. The station suddenly
spurted forward - an instant later it was gone.

"They've entered FTL." O'Brien reported.

"How long until we can follow?"

"I don't know. We have damage to at least one warp coil. Replacing
it is a dry-dock job; I can patch the conduits up and reconfigure the warpfield
to run without a coil on one side, but that's going to take at least half
an hour or more."

"What about communications?"

"The short range systems are fine, but we won't have subspace communications
anytime soon sir - there's nothing left of it to repair, we need a completely
new unit."

"So we can't warn Starfleet that that thing is on its way."

"No sir."

"Well that's just great. It'll make a nice surprise for them, I'm sure."
She said bitterly. You should have waited, idiot! "Do what you can.
I want us underway as soon as possible."

"The fleet is ready to go to light speed my lord." Melkar announced.
"We are conducting sensor scans of the target area - we have a fix on the
Federation fleet, but at this range we can see little else."

"Are they attempting to jam our scans?"

"No my lord."

"We have them." Vader gloated. "Order the fleet to proceed, captain."

"Here we go." Riker announced. "Jupiter Outpost ninety two reports the
Imperial fleet appears to be preparing to jump to FTL drive."

"We will not have absolutely precise course information on the Imperial
fleet until they jump to FTL. At that point we will have only a few seconds
to react."

"Send this information to the fleet. Have every ship continually update
its firing solution - I want everybody ready to fire the instant the Imperials
come back into normal space."

"That's it!" Riker said. "The fleet has jumped to FTL! We have seconds
to go." On the screen the grey area representing the probable target zone
collapsed to a tenth its previous size.

"Commit all defence drones." Picard ordered. "Have them proceed to
those co-ordinates. Have planetary defences stand by to fire."

"Neutrino surge." Riker said. "Here they come."

On the screen Imperial ships began to appear by the thousand. It was
an awesome sight, and for just a moment Picard was stunned into silence.
Here we go.

"Defence drones to active status." He ordered. Explosions began to
ripple through the Imperial formations as the automated craft found their
targets. Each carried a warhead equal to ten photon torpedoes, more than
enough to obliterate a Star Destroyer.

"Planetary defences, fire." Picard ordered. Dozens of phaser beams
began to pour up from the surface of Mars, and from the stations and satellites
orbiting the planet. Strings of photon torpedoes followed.

"Fleet units, fire." More phasers and photons joined the storm of destruction.
Many of the Imperial ships where blasted apart within moments of leaving
hyperspace, never even realising they where under attack. Others panicked
and initiated evasive actions - a move that was normally not allowed in
close fleet formations. The results where inevitable; ships began to collide
with one another, spinning out of control and spreading further chaos.
As more emerged from hyperspace they found wreckage directly in their path,
slamming into it at near light speed.

Picard watched with something approaching pity. The first few waves
of ships have no chance, no chance at all, he thought to himself. Star
Destroyers where exploding by the hundreds, even thousands.

And still it went on. Every ship destroyed created megatons of wreckage
for others to plough into. The bridge crew watched in silence, motionless
except for Data's hands on the tactical console, as the Imperial fleet
fell into total disarray. The ballet of death went on for minute after
minute without pause or respite of any kind.

Vader watched his fleet being cut apart with a rage so intense it was
beyond anything he had ever felt before. His own ship, along with its escort
and a reserve force, had emerged well clear of the main body. He had an
excellent view of the battleground.

"The Federation ships?" He asked.

"We are reading nearly a hundred of them in orbit of the planet my
lord." Melkar said, his eyes locked on the scene being played out before
them.

"Attack."

"We are out of range, my lord."

"Close on them and attack at once." Vader ordered.

"We will need time, my lord, to re-establish our formation-"

Vader spun around, his hand flashing out to strike the Imperial captain
in the face; Melkar thudded into the deck, stunned. "At
once!" Vader
hissed. Commit all ships, everything we have left. I want that fleet destroyed
utterly, now."

"We're reading some ships emerging significantly behind the main fleet."
Data reported. "A force of some three thousand. They are far enough clear
of the fleet to avoid collisions and are out of our weapon range."

"What are they doing?" Picard asked.

"They are somewhat disorganised, but they appear to be circling around
the main fleet and heading this way." Data said.

"Let them get close enough to get a few shots off, then pull back to
just outside their weapons range." Picard ordered. "Head for the fall-back
position. All ships to continue firing as they go."

"Aye sir."

Vader watched with rage as the Starships turned and began to fall back.
"They shall not escape me," he grated. "They shall not. Full pursuit!"

"They're following us sir." Riker said.

"Just as they should." Picard agreed.

The Enterprise led its fleet of nearly a hundred Starships past
Mars's magnetic pole and continued on, the Imperials in pursuit.

The blind spot that occurs above the magnetic pole of almost any planet
was a long-known factor in warfare within the Federation; Riker had once
used the effect while serving on the Starship Potemkin to hide from
an opponent. By modern standards it was a somewhat outdated manoeuvre,
a well known tactic that rarely caught anybody by surprise any more.

Of course, the Empire was new to it.

From within the blind spot Picards reinforcements emerged - over three
hundred Starships, most of the Federations Core Defence Fleet. At the head
of the formation the Sovereign class USS Alaska,
Tirpitz
and Kirov accompanied the Sovereign herself, flanked by six
Galaxy
class and nearly two dozen Nebula class vessels. All of them opened
fire on the Imperial fleet from point blank range.

The remaining Imperial forces seemed to stagger under the impact of
hundreds of torpedoes and phaser arrays. Badly co-ordinated and caught
totally by surprise, the Imperial fleet fell apart within minutes. The
captains turned their ships around and attempted to flee, only to recreate
in miniature the confusion that still gripped the main fleet.

The Dark Lord turned to the trembling captain and regarded him for
a long moment. "Order all ships to withdraw." He said finally. "We will
go back to the portal and make a stand there."

"They're retreating." Riker said in satisfaction.

"How many?"

"Nearly a thousand are pulling off. Close to twice that are damaged
and adrift, the rest..."

"Forget them, we can finish them later. Order all ships to pursue the
main fleet but do not fire unless fired upon. Let's give them the chance
to end this. Transmit a continuous hail to lord Vader offering him a surrender."

Riker tapped the order into his console. "Fleet's responding in the
affirmative." He said a moment later. "We are in pursuit."

The remaining Imperial ships powered out of Mars orbit, the Federation
fleet pacing them easily as they dodged through the cloud of wreckage now
spreading around Mars. Now and then an Imperial ship would attempt to put
up some kind of offence, only to be torn apart by photon torpedoes.

"We're picking up a new sensor reading." Riker said. "A neutrino surge
again - much bigger than before."

"Reinforcements?" Picard said, anxiously.

"I don't know. It's a single signal - one ship rather than a fleet.
I think..." Riker trailed off. On the screen, something the size of a small
moon dropped out of FTL drive directly ahead of them.

Admiral Sandell paced the Death Stars huge command centre, deep in thought.
He had expected to arrive to find a victorious Imperial fleet; he had told
his turbolaser crews to stand down and give the stations main weapon a
clear shot at whatever inhabited planets they found. Instead...

He looked out again at the graveyard ahead of the station. In over
thirty years as a Naval officer he had never heard of losses on this scale.
Fifteen thousand ships - gone, and to a force a fraction of that size.
He had heard about the technological sophistication of this new enemy,
but he could scarcely have believed that such a humiliation was possible.

Angrily, he snapped himself out of the reverie. He could feel the depressed
mood on the command deck - Imperial crews where unused to defeat, his most
especially. So these...these outsiders think they have us beat? Well,
think again.

"That planet." He snapped, pointing at the red-green ball hanging beyond
the graveyard. "Target the superlaser on it and fire when ready."

"It's... over a hundred kilometres across." Riker said, glancing at
the sensor readouts.

"I am reading several million weapon emplacements on the surface."
Data reported. "Also, what looks like a set of very large laser cannon
of unknown type. Those weapons are powering up."

"Keep the fleet out of turbolaser range of that thing." Picard said
instantly. "They can engage at will, but until we know more I don't want
anybody near it."

"The vessel is firing." Data said.

From the huge indentation on the sphere, a set of green beams suddenly
sprung. They came together at a single point and seemed to hesitate for
a moment. Then a single bright beam sprung from that point.

It hit Mars square on.

Sandell watched with satisfaction as the planet bulged, then split,
then exploded into a trillion fragments in the space of an instant.

"Prepare to launch all fighters and our entire destroyer force." He
said in satisfaction. "Take us in towards the enemy fleet and have all
weapons fire the instant they have a target."

For perhaps ten seconds, there was total silence on the bridge of the
Enterprise.

"Order the fleet to fall back." Picard said finally. "We'll re-group
at Earth and make our stand there."

"The remaining Imperial ships are heading for that thing." Riker said.

"Let them go." Picard glanced again at the field of rubble that had
been a planet only seconds ago. "Just... let them go."

"Another ship is approaching." Data reported. "Standard warp drive.
It is the Defiant... They are hailing us."

"On screen." The Defiants bridge appeared. Dax and Troi stood
together in front of the captains chair.

"Captain..." Dax said. "I just wish we could have got here a little
sooner but our warp drive is damaged and our long range communications
are out. We... we have a way to destroy that thing. We're transmitting
the detailed information to you now. There's an exhaust port for the main
reactor on the surface - put a torpedo down there and you'll trigger an
explosion that will destroy the whole thing."

"We have the information." Data said.

"Can you locate the port?" Picard asked.

"Not from here sir. We must close to close range in order to target
something so small."

"That's not going to be easy." Riker cautioned.

"No, I'm sure it won't." Picard said. "Have all the Sovereign,
Galaxy
and Nebula class ships rendezvous at this location immediately.
Captain, if you wish to pull back-"

"No sir." Dax said stiffly. "If I'd acted differently this wouldn't
have happened. I believe I owe those bastards a little retribution."

"As you wish. Stand by to follow us in. Picard out."

"The requested ships are standing by sir." Data reported.

"Then I see no need to keep them waiting. Arrow formation, we'll take
the lead. Take us straight in at full impulse, stand by on all torpedo
tubes. Engage."

Thirty five Starships turned and dived at the station simultaneously.
An incredible barrage of turbolaser fire rained up at them from both the
station and the Star Destroyers clustered around it.

"Admiral, a group of enemy ships is heading for us." The sensor technician
looked up, a nervous look on his face. "They appear to be heading directly
for the reactor exhaust ports."

Sandell paled slightly. How could they know to do that? Of course,
the Rebels - that scum would sell their treason on at any opportunity.

After the loss of the original production Death Star, Sandell had ordered
some modifications to the area around the exhaust ports. An extra two hundred
turbolaser batteries had been installed in that area, two thirds of them
lightweight models intended to intercept snub fighters. Little use against
these ships, of course.

"Concentrate every battery we have on those ships." He snapped. "Ignore
everything else - we have to stop them getting through!"

Phasers and torpedoes lanced out, scoring the surface of the Death
Star deeply. Weapon emplacements where obliterated by the hundred as the
phasers swept across the surface, but it barely touched the colossal firepower
pouring up from the surface.

"We will continue on course." Picard spoke with a voice that could
have driven nails through Duranium.

"Shields have failed." The ship began to rock heavily as turbolaser
bolts hit home. "Registering multiple hits on forward sectors. The ablative
armour is holding, but it won't for long!"

The Enterprise shook once, her structure screaming at the stresses
imposed on it, then heeled over to port.

"Port impulse engine is down to half power." Riker reported. "We're
loosing speed and manoeuvrability." The ship shook again, throwing several
people out of their chairs. "Hit on the main torpedo turret. It's inoperable.
The other ships are reporting damage as well."

"Who's closest to us?" Picard asked.

"Defiant."

"Get us between her and the surface. We'll shield her so she can make
the torpedo attack."

"Aye sir."

The Enterprise heeled over and positioned itself directly ahead
of the smaller warship. The two continued down toward the Death Star's
surface.

"In range in five seconds." Riker said. "We can't take a whole lot
more of this sir."

"Fire." Dax ordered. A quantum torpedo leapt away from the ship and
tracked unerringly down to the surface. It entered the exhaust port and
vanished from sight.

"Hard about." She said. "Get us the hell out of here."

"The Enterprise is taking heavy damage." Anthony reported.

"They shielded us, let's return the favour. Put us between them and
the station."

"They're a lot bigger than us." O'Brien pointed out as the ship heeled
over.

"Think big thoughts." Dax replied.

"They fired a single torpedo at the Death Star and retreated." Melkar
said. Vader turned to his helmsman.

"Is the course to the Portal set?"

"Yes sir."

"Implement it at once."

His fleet turned, accelerated - and vanished.

The Admiral watched the Federation ships falling back, and for a moment
he felt a glimmer of hope. The feeling was stillborne when he picked a
single contact out of the crowded battle readouts. Something very small
and almost impossibly fast, arcing down towards his station.

Sandell flinched away from the tactical display, horrified.
Was
this how Tarkin felt, before the end? Or did he even realise that the end
was coming?

"Our sensors show a torpedo hitting the surface, but we register no
detonation." A technician announced triumphantly. He turned, his face gleeful,
hoping to curry some favour with the Admiral. "Probably the weapon was
a dud. The enemy ships are damaged and retreating! Victory is ours, Admiral!"

"Idiot!" Sandell spun on the man, his face a mask of rage. "It did
not hit the surface, it passed through it!" he watched the
incomprehension on the mans face. "They have killed us all, don't you understand?
They have killed us all!"

The Death Star's surface cracked in a million places at once - each
crack a chasm hundreds of metres across. Plasma spewed out of the fissures.
A moment later, the entire hundred and thirty kilometre sphere exploded.
Countless trillions of fragments exploded outwards, propelled by a flare
of energy that briefly rivalled the distant sun. The awesome beacon held
for a long moment... dimmed... and began to die down to a dull red heat.
The remnants of the station would continue to consume themselves for days
to come, a silent tribute to the both the power and folly of the Imperial
builders.

They gathered in the observation lounge of the Enterprise - Picard
and his officers, Dax, and her senior crew, and O'Brien. Despite the victory
and the return of their counsellor and an old friend, the greetings where
a muted affair - the big windows gave everybody an excellent view of the
cloud of debris that would eventually become the Sol systems second asteroid
belt. Dotted among the debris where occasional flares of light as the fleet
finished off the remaining Imperial stragglers who refused to surrender,
exacting what little vengance they could.

It was Dax who broke the silence. "Do we have any word on the orbital
settlements yet?" She asked finally.

"Most of them where evacuated before the battle." Picard replied without
looking up. "Just in case. The high orbit stations like Utopia Planitia
survived. Most of the low ones..." his voice trailed off.

"Even when you look out there, it's hard to believe it." Riker said
softly. "We'd done it, we'd beaten them, then - a billion people,
gone. Just like that. The Borg invasions, the Cardassian wars, the Klingons,
the Dominion - all of it put together doesn't come close to this."

"What about Vader?" Troi asked.

"Escaped." Picard said simply.

"He'll be back." She shuddered slightly without noticing, and when
she continued there was anger in her voice. "It's so stupid! He
hates us, hates us for what we are - for what he thinks we lack.
This 'force' or theirs. And for that, him and his Emperor are willing to
slaughter billions, turn an entire galaxy to destroying us."

"And they have the numbers to do it." Dax said. "So what happens next?"
She shook her head. "Is this the calm before the real storm arrives?
Will it be Earth next time?"

"No." Picard looked up for the first time, his voice solid again. "Not
Earth, not any Federation world. We won't loose another ship to those people
if I have anything to do with it."

"So how do we do that?" Crusher asked. "Is there any way to close the
Portal for good?"

"Theoretical studies indicate that there is no known method of closing
down this phenomena." Data said. He alone appeared unaffected by the disaster;
Dax had heard that he could turn his emotions on and off at will. "Doubtless
Starfleet will continue to research the possibilities."

"The Emperor said he was totally committed to destroying us; he claimed
a hundred thousand ships where on the way - we could be facing them the
next time the portal opens." She said.

"Not so." Picard replied. "Data?"

"I have examined our records of the Portal." Data said. "The phenomena
has a definite range over which it operates - approximately one hundred
and fifty kilometres. I estimate no more than twenty thousand Imperial
vessels could safely be placed within that volume to pass through in any
one opening."

"And they'd be packed in like sardines, easy targets to a waiting fleet."
Picard said. "Eight or nine hundred Starships can handle that kind of threat."

"We can't spare that many from the Dominion war." Dax complained.

"We have to."

"Sir," O'Brien spoke up. "When we closed access to the wormhole at
Deep Space Nine we used cloaked self-replicating mines."

"The Portal itself cannot be mined." Data said. "The mines would simply
be transferred to the Imperial side with each opening."

"But the area around the portal could be." Picard said. He began to
really think for the first time in hours. "If we put a shell of a few million
mines around the area, then place defence platforms outside that - equip
them with navigational deflectors to defend them against plasma lasers.
You have the specifications of these devices?"

"All in Defiants' computer." The chief confirmed.

"I'll pass them on to Starfleet. The automated drones worked better
than I thought they would. We could deploy a few thousand of those within
a few days if we raid the stockpiles in nearby systems."

"With that level of forces in place only twenty or thirty Starships
would be needed to provide a flexible backup and co-ordinate the defences."
Data said. "Starfleet can easily keep such a force to hand with minimal
impact on the current level of operations."

"I still don't like it." Dax said. "You don't win a war by having a
great defence."

"No." Picard said. "My report to Starfleet is going to recommend action
against the Empire."

"Surely we can't hope to mount an invasion?" Troi asked.

"Not as such. But this Rebellion of theirs is suffering badly at the
moment, yes?"

"So Leia said." Troi nodded.

"It would need to be covert." Picard mused. "Nothing encourages a population
to close ranks, even with an oppressive government, quite like bringing
in an outside threat. But we can put surveillance drones in place, gather
signal and electronic intelligence and see that it gets to the right hands.
Most especially we'll have to ensure that they find out about the location
and status of any more Death Stars before they're finished - just one of
those could end their chances once and for all. I wouldn't be surprised
if the Rebellion undergoes something of a transformation over the next
few years."

"That violates the Prime Directive." Crusher said thoughtfully.

"I know, but they leave us little choice." Picard said sorrowfully.
"The Empire has declared war on us, and that's the only viable means of
fighting back that I can see." He glanced out at the asteroid field beyond.
"I don't think Starfleet will see it any differently."

"And the Emperor will never be able to discover any of it," Dax put
in. "His technology isn't up to the job, and his PSI abilities don't work
against us."

"Yes. I think we've seen the last of the Empire on this side for good;
quite possibly the beginning of its downfall." Picard said, still looking
at the view beyond the windows. "We may have suffered terribly on this
day, but I promise you we'll suffer no more by their hand."

"I'll drink to that." Dax said, reaching under the table and produced
a bottle and a tray of glasses and began to hand them around. She glanced
at Troi. "This is one conflict I'll be very glad to see in the past."

Troi hesitated for a moment, dropping her eyes to the table before
looking up again. "Agreed." She said quietly. "Some things belong in the
past."

"Which reminds me," Picard said to Dax. "Your ship forwarded a message
from the Rotarran just before you arrived. It seems they have been
assigned to operate with the Defiant when she gets back into the
war. Lieutenant Commander Worf wants to try out a new tactic he's thought
up. Something about using you as bait."